The Road To Nowhere
by Wolvesinboundary
Summary: The road to nowhere is a long one. It goes on for what seems like forever and no matter how long you think you've been on it, there is never any end in sight. Taking it hurts, too. The road isn't nice and safe like most others, it's cruel, unforgiving and dangerous. But maybe that's what makes it so appealing; the danger. It can make you feel so alive.
1. Prologue

The road to nowhere is a long one. It goes on for what seems like forever and no matter how long you think you've been on it, there is never any end in sight. Taking it hurts, too. The road isn't nice and safe like most others, it's cruel, unforgiving and dangerous. But maybe that's what makes it so appealing; the danger. It can make you feel so _alive_.

For some, that's all they really want.

For Clary, it's all she really needs.

She didn't care that she wasn't going anywhere, that there was no end to the path she was on. She didn't care that it hurt, she couldn't feel the pain. She didn't care that it wasn't nice and safe; she only cared that it made her feel alive. That was something she needed desperately, the feeling of being alive.

She wasn't sure when exactly that feeling disappeared, making her take the endless road to nowhere just to have it again. She did, however, know that it wasn't really one thing that had stolen it, but a lot of little things that took it piece by piece. She remembered most of them, knowing they were almost all the times she'd found herself in her room sobbing after. She remembered the first one the most, though.

It was hotter than usual and her mother had let her go swimming in their pool, sitting by the edge while she did. Clary's mother seemed happy that day, her eyes warm and loving. Clary had swam to the other side of the pool and dove down to pick up the goggles she'd accidently dropped. It had taken longer than expected, the slippery material of the goggles sliding through her fingers multiple times. She'd had to go back up for air four times before she got them. When she'd finally come back up, her mother had disappeared. Confused, she'd gotten out of the water and padded inside.

"Momma?" There hadn't been an answer so she'd gone upstairs to check her room.

She could never unsee what she saw that day.

Her mother had hanged herself due to a severe case of depression, they'd told her. It wasn't her fault, they said. She couldn't have done anything, she was just a kid. She couldn't have known. She couldn't have changed it. But no matter what they told her, she couldn't bring herself to believe them.

It was her fault, she could have done something. She should have known and she could've changed it. But she didn't and now her mother was dead and she was left with a giant, aching chasm where she used to be.

Over time that chasm had grown until it was all that was left of her.

* * *

Jace Lightwood was an ass. It was a simple fact really, and one he never bothered to hide. But maybe it wasn't such a simple fact. Was he really an ass or just pretending to be one? Ask anyone and they'd tell you it was the former, ask Jace and—well he'd tell you the same thing because honestly, he doesn't even _know _you, why would he get into some deep, heartfelt conversation about why he was the way he was. Seriously, dream on.

But anyway, the truth is he wasn't really an ass, it was just easier to pretend he was. That way he could write off his unwillingness to let others in as him just being an egotistical asshole. It just made everything easier, and he really never expected that to change. Why should it?

It's not like he was ever going to find someone who was as screwed up as he was.


	2. Chapter 1

**J.L**

"Jace, come _on._ We're gonna be late!"

"Jesus Christ, Iz. I'm coming already," Jace said as he threw on a random t-shirt from his drawer. He opened the door just as his adoptive sister was about to kick it down, earning him a strong, high-heeled kick to the stomach. He groaned, doubling over in pain. "Are you _trying _to kill me?"

"Sorry. But it's partly your fault for taking so long. I mean, seriously Jace. Even I don't take that long and I'm a girl." She didn't even look slightly apologetic. He rolled his eyes at her before tugging his shoes on and being dragged out the door and into the car.

By the time they'd reached the school, everyone else had already arrived including one annoying, overly-sparkly Asian for whom Jace was currently harboring feelings of strong dislike towards. He flew at them in a flash of green and purple glitter, almost knocking his adoptive brother over when he collided with him.

"Alec! I thought you'd died!" The boy in question didn't seem capable of answering, his face bright red at the closeness of his boyfriend. So, like any good brother would, Jace answered for him.

"The only thing that's going to kill him is the amount of glitter you're wearing. If you're standing within a mile of, one breath and you're dead. Lay off the sparkle, glitter boy." Magnus rolled his eyes at him but kept his arms wrapped firmly around his boyfriend who had yet to recover.

"You're just jealous of how fabulous I am, Goldilocks" Jace snorted.

"Whatever floats your boat." The bell rang then, signaling that they had better get their asses to class or else their teachers were going to be pissed.

When Jace walked into his homeroom class, the first thing that he noticed was the fact that there only four other people there which meant he was either early or everyone else was late. Most likely, everyone else was late because Jace was _never _early. The second thing he noticed was that only one of the four people was female and not the kind he would usually go for. Deciding it was better than nothing, he sauntered over and sat himself down in the seat next to her. She looked up as he did, a mix of shock and annoyance evident on her face. It was then that he was forced to take back the comment about her not being his type because—shit— she was beautiful. She wasn't curvy or tall but she had the most stunning pair of green eyes he'd ever seen and a mess of fiery of red hair. He watched as she took him in and was slightly taken aback when her mouth curled in disgust.

"What do _you_ want?" Well, that was unexpected. Just stay cool, Jace. Act like you usually do.

"What, a man can't sit where he wants without being accused of wanting something else. What has this world _come_ to?" He flashed her his trademark grin, the one that had every girl within six miles swooning. This girl however, wasn't every girl and therefore was not affected in the slightest.

"He can. You just can't sit by me without wanting something else. Now tell me what you want so I can go back to ignoring you." Ouch, cold. He would've winced but I mean, really. He has an image to uphold.

"Well, if you insist. I want your name. I'm Jace, by the way." Nice one, now you'll be able to figure out who she is. The girl just scowled at him.

"I know who you are. You don't need to know who I am." What was with her? Why wasn't she head over heels in love with him already? Just who the hell was she?

"Aw, come o—" He was cut off when the teacher walked in and told them all to shut up. Well, okay not quite but how cool would that be if she did? Best teacher ever. Anyway, he needed to know who this girl was. He leaned over and was about to tap her arm to get her attention when the teacher proved to be useful for something than helping him fall asleep.

"Jace, stop harassing Clary." Clary? He looked at the girl and felt a smile creep onto his face. It suited her, he decided. He knew it was short for something but for some reason anything else just seemed _wrong_. Satisfied, he settled back into his seat.

"Sorry, teach." The teacher rolled her eyes at him but continued on with the lesson. Jace, however, couldn't keep his eyes off of the girl beside him.

_She's perfect._

* * *

**C.F**

Saying Clary was annoyed was an understatement. The school's biggest player and smartass had the nerve to sit next to her and even try to _talk _to her.

Clary shivered.

Her attention was forced to land on her best friend who had just sat down next to her, sighing dreamily as he did. She raised her eyebrows at him in question and he looked over at her with a stupid smile on his face before he answered.

"Isabelle…" And that was all it took for her to be getting up and moving to the next desk, away from him. She wasn't going to sit for an hour and listen to Simon fantasize about some stuck-up bitch that he's somehow become totally infatuated with.

"Alright class, today we're going to be working on your essays so grab your stuff and head down to the computer lab." Clary didn't bother grabbing anything, she was done anyway, just walked out the door and into the lab, sitting herself down at the computer in the corner, knowing no one was going to sit on the other side of her because the computer there was broken.

The day passed by agonizingly slowly but eventually the final bell rang, signaling her release from the torture device known as high school. She almost smiled but, well I said almost didn't I?

Unfortunately, there was another torture device waiting for her though this one was slightly more… _golden_.


	3. Chapter 2

**J.L**

It started raining just as Jace finished getting his things from his locker and he was forced to sprint to his car. The parking lot was empty, in fact the whole school was deserted but he'd taken that long on purpose. He didn't like having to shove his way through the crowds to get to his car and then steer around them when he did. It was easier like this.

By the time he'd gotten out of the school parking lot and onto the actual road, it had started pouring so heavily he could barely see out the windshield. That was probably why he'd already driven past her when he noticed the little red-head walking away from the school and had to go back to make sure he'd seen right. Sure enough, there she was walking home in the pouring rain, already completely drenched. She glanced over at him when she noticed he was beside her, moving slower than he'd ever thought his car could so he could stay beside her. He rolled his window down.

"What are you doing?" He had to shout to be heard over the sound of the rain. She stared determinedly at the sidewalk in front of her.

"Walking." He rolled his eyes at her.

"Well no shit, Sherlock. I meant what are you doing walking in this," he said, gesturing at the rain.

"I like walking in the rain." He frowned.

"Really?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I enjoy getting completely soaked?" Oh, right she was kidding.

"Get in."

"_Excuse _me?" He rolled his eyes again and stopped the car, gesturing to the empty seat beside him.

"I said, get in. I'll take you home." She'd stopped now too and was facing him. She looked unsure for a second before she huffed and went around the car to get in. Yanking the door open, she climbed into the passenger seat before slamming it shut behind, pulling her seatbelt across her and then folding her arms across her chest and locking her eyes on the road in front of them.

"352, Oak street." He nodded, forcing a smile away from his face and put his foot on the gas. They drove in complete silence until he reached her house and couldn't help but gasp because it really wasn't what he'd expected. The place was huge, around the same size as his own house and sitting in front of it was what would have been the world's most amazing garden once, were it not completely dead. He whistled.

"Nice place." She frowned at him.

"You like it?" He paused, unsure what to say.

"I would like it, I think, if it wasn't so…" he trailed off.

"Dead? Believe me I know." He looked at her then but she'd already turned away from him and opened the door. She got out and seemed like she was about to just walk away before she turned back around and leaned through the still open window. "Thanks. For taking me home, I mean." He smiled back at her, which shocked even him because it was a real smile. God, what had she done to him?

" No problem," he replied and then almost had a heart attack when she did the one thing he'd expected the least.

She smiled back at him.

* * *

**C.F**

The second Clary got inside, she raced to her room and locked herself in her bathroom. She was mentally screaming at herself for getting in the car with that _thing_. However, the part of her that showed was giddy and couldn't stop smiling because he just felt right and he was the first thing in longer than she could remember that did.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the end of the road to nowhere. Wanting to see it again, to keep the feeling it gave her, she found herself reaching for the razor that was sitting on the counter beside the sink.

She didn't see it again.

* * *

**J.L**

He sat beside her again the next day. She didn't look up when he did, too focused on whatever she was drawing to notice. He smiled as he leaned towards her.

"Hey, Clary." She looked up at the sound of her name and when her eyes found him, she smiled instead of looking disgusted like the day before.

"Hey, Jace." Hearing his name coming from her made his smile grow even wider. Might as well go for it.

"I was wondering… Could I have your number?" She was quiet for a second, the smile wavering and he suddenly felt scared that she'd say no. Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Jace Lightwood, scared? Since when?

"Sure, here." He breathed a sigh of relief when she scrawled something on a blank page of her sketchbook, tore it out and handed it to him. Grinning, he took it from her. Then, like the day before, the teacher walked in and effectively cut off anything he might have said to the green-eyed beauty beside him. But it was okay, he had her number now and she didn't seem to hate him as much as she did yesterday. He was making progress.


	4. Chapter 3

**J.L**

Jace was unsure what do to. He could call her, but then he might seem desperate— which he was, though he refused to admit it— or he could not call her, but then he might seem like a jerk for getting her hopes up that he was going to call and then not. Although, she probably wasn't hoping he would call because really, they'd pretty much just met and it was clear she hadn't liked him when they did. Jace glanced at the clock and made up his mind. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

"Hello?" He couldn't stop the smile that played across his face.

"Hey Clary. It's Jace." The other end of the phone was quiet for a moment and he thought she might have hung up on him. He was relieved when her voice sounded through his cellphone once again.

"Jace, oh hi. Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to actually call."

"I'm full of surprises." He was full out grinning now but, honestly, he didn't really care.

"So I've noticed. Did you need something?" He paused because he hadn't actually had a reason for calling other than to hear her voice, which he definitely could _not _tell her.

"I, uh… wanted to know if you wanted to hang out sometime." The last part came out faster than he'd wanted it to and when he realized what he'd said, he mentally cursed himself because there was no way she'd say yes and he'd just ruined the puny almost non-existent thing they'd had.

"Sure, when?" He almost fell over in shock, before he managed to collect himself and formulate a response.

"Are you free tonight?" There was a pause on the other side of the line and he struggled to remain calm.

"Yeah, where'd you want to go?" The grin was back with a vengeance and nothing he could think of could make it go away.

"How about the park?"

"Sounds great." She sounded like she was smiling but he couldn't be sure.

"Awesome, pick you up at six."

"See you then."

"See you." He waited for her to hang up first before doing the same and throwing open his closet to find something to wear.

* * *

**C.F**

Clary was debating between two different outfits when her brother walked in and sat himself down on her down, snorting at the clothes on it.

"Going on a date?" She scowled at him.

"No." He raised his eyebrows at her, looking positively amused.

"Sure looks like it."

"And you look smart but looks can be deceiving, obviously." It was his turn to glare at her as he got up and left her room. He paused in the doorway however.

"Just be careful, Clary. I don't want you to get hurt." She gave him a small smile and with that he left. The second he was gone, Clary collapsed onto her bed. Her eyes wandered over to the picture that sat on her nightstand and it seemed like any progress she'd made on the road to nowhere disappeared.

_I'm sorry, mom._

* * *

**J.L**

Jace's hand was shaking as he raised it to the door and knocked. When the door didn't open, he peered through the window beside it to see if anyone was there. Not seeing anyone, he knocked again. A muffled voice sounded on the other side and, moments later, Clary emerged looking as beautiful as ever. She smiled at him and he automatically smiled back.

"Hey, Jace."

"Hey, Clary. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go." He led her down the pathway from her front door to where he'd parked his car. He opened the door for her, waited for her to get in and then went around the other side and settled into the driver's seat.

It didn't take long to reach the park, especially with Jace driving, and when they did they went to the little ice cream stand that sat just off the main path. They walked around, talking about nothing really important and eating their ice cream for what felt like no time at all but in reality was more than an hour.

"What's your favorite class?" Jace asked after they'd decided to sit down on one of the many park benches there.

"Art," Clary replied without hesitation. "Yours?"

"English," he said because it was the class he had with Clary. She must have known that too because she laughed and it made Jace's heart ache.

"And here I thought you'd say something like 'I hate them all' or 'I'm too cool for school'." He smiled at her and chuckled a bit with her before they both settled into a comfortable silence. A silence Jace decided to break.

"So, you have any siblings?"

"Just an older brother. You're related to Alec and Isabelle, right?"

"I'm adopted so not actually but yeah, I guess." She looked at him for a second, obviously debating what to say. She seemed to have come to a decision after a moment.

"What happened to your real parents?"

"Died in a fire when I was ten." He was surprised at himself because that was something he'd never told anyone, in fact most people didn't even know he was adopted. He would've panicked at the realization that he'd let someone in for the first time since as long as he could remember, had she not spoken up then.

"My mom died when I was seven." He looked over at her, all panic he may have felt before completely vanishing.

"How?" He watched as she looked down and started chewing on her lip, a nervous habit he'd picked up on in the car the day before.

"She killed herself." He gasped, shocked.

"That must have been awful," he said and was even more shocked when she let out a strained, breathy laugh.

"That's what everyone says, along with 'it's not your fault' and 'you couldn't have done anything'." His eyes softened and he reached over, taking her hand in his.

"Why would it be your fault?" She hesitated, eyes staring at their intertwined hands.

"I… I don't know but I should've noticed how depressed she was. I should have stopped her."

"You were seven, Clary. You weren't supposed to notice things like that." She looked up at him and a small, sad smile spread across her face.

"You know, before I met you I thought you were just another popular asshole. I think you're the first person who's ever proved me wrong about them." He smiled back at her then and was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to kiss her. He shoved it aside, thinking she'd hate him if he gave into it. He was pulled out of his musings when a small voice sounded from beside him.

"Jace? Do you… Do you want to go out again sometime?" That cursed grin made its reappearance then because she'd just asked _him _out.

"I'd love to."

When he got home that night he spent forever in front of the mirror, just looking at his reflection and wondering when it was that he started to see something in it that was capable of being saved.


	5. Chapter 4

_**I'd just like to thank iluvbookies (a guest) for being the first to review this story and reviewing it so nicely. So, thanks iluvbookies. You're awesome.**_

* * *

**C.F**

Clary had saved Jace's number in her phone when he'd called her. Now, she sat on her bed staring at the glowing letters on her cellphone that spelled out his name and wondering if she should call him. She wanted to tell him everything, get it off her chest already but she'd really _just _met him and she knew he would never look at her the same way once she did.

She threw her phone at the bed and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She snatched up the razor again and sank onto the floor. When she looked at the glinting piece of metal in her hands, positioned over her arm and ready to cut, she found herself remembering things she'd much rather just forget.

Most of Clary's memories of her mother revolved around their pool. She didn't know why, they just did. So the memory she found herself now wrapped in was of one of the many times her and her mother had gone swimming.

Clary had been sitting on the edge of the pool, her feet in the water when her mother had come out. She'd flashed Clary one of the grins she loved so much because they made her mother look more alive than usual. Then, she'd shoved the little girl in. Giggling as she came up, Clary splashed her mother in return and then promptly latched onto one of her legs, refusing to let go. Jocelyn had jumped over her daughter and into the pool, also laughing.

It was a good day, Clary remembered, and nothing truly remarkable happened except that she noticed something about her mother she hadn't before. There, littering her mother's arms like tiny silver threads, were scars. And not just any scars, but self-inflicted scars which meant that somewhere along the way her mother had found herself on the road to nowhere just like Clary now.

Somehow, that made it easier to drag the blade across her arm.

* * *

**J.L**

It was Sunday when Jace's phone rang and he lunged for it immediately, hoping it was Clary because he hadn't heard her voice since their date on Friday. He ended up getting tangled in his bed sheets though, and had to untangle himself before he could grab the buzzing device. Sure enough, when his eyes landed on the tiny screen of his cell they were met with Clary's name. Grinning to himself, he flipped it open and brought it to his ear.

"Hey Clary."

"Jace, I… I think—" Clary sounded panicked, her breathing coming in gasps and too often. He was alarmed, to say the least.

"Clary? What's wrong?" He was met with silence for a moment, broken only by the sound of her breathing.

"I think I might need some help." And then there was a sound that could only be the phone clattering to the ground and the line went dead. Jace sat there staring at the phone in his hand for a second before his mind caught up with her words and sent him racing to his car and almost flooring the gas to get to her house.

When he did get to her house, he didn't bother knocking just ran right in, barely registering that the door had been left unlocked. He didn't know which room was hers, which slowed him down a great deal, but he found it eventually. She wasn't there, however, but he didn't fail to notice the door off to the side of the room, obviously leading to a bathroom. Judging by the red liquid leaking out from under the door, she was in there and she wasn't in good shape. The door was locked when he tried it but it barely gave him pause as he just proceeded to kick it down instead. His heart dropped into his stomach when it swung open.

She was sitting propped up against the bathtub on the right of the room, unconscious. Her sleeves were rolled up, revealing more scars than he could count though they were hard to see because of all the blood that ran down her skin, coming from multiple fresh cuts. There was a bloody razor sitting next to her. He whipped out his phone so fast he nearly dropped it and dialed 9-1-1.

"How can I help you?"

"I need an ambulance to 352, Oak street."

"What happened?" He glanced down at Clary, who he'd gathered into his arms by now.

"An accident. They've lost a lot of blood and the cuts are pretty bad, so hurry."

"An ambulance will be arriving shortly, sir." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," he said and hung up the phone, gathering Clary even more tightly into his arms. He rocked them back and forth, trying to push away the memories that threatened to resurface after years of being held at bay. It was no use, they came anyway.

It was Jace's tenth birthday when it happened. He'd been bothering his mom all day about what kind of cake she was making and every time he brought it up she'd tap him on the nose and tell him it was a surprise. Eventually getting fed up, he flung open the oven and peered inside, grinning when he saw that it was chocolate. He grabbed dishcloth from one of the drawers and used it to hold the cake while he picked off a tiny piece of it to try. Closing the oven and turning away from it, he tossed the piece in his mouth and then smiled to himself at how good it was. Satisfied, he left the kitchen and went outside to go play at the park by his house.

Less than an hour later, one of the boys he was playing with gasped and pointed back in the direction of his house. When he turned to look as well, he found himself immediately taking off towards the burning building, screaming for his parents. But his parents didn't make it and he was never the same because unlike with Clary and her mother, this was his fault.

He'd left the dishcloth in the oven and it had caught fire.

* * *

**C.F**

Clary was in the pool with her mother when the beeping started. She looked around in confusion, unable to distinguish the source of the sound. It seemed to be coming from all around her. Frowning, she turned to her mother who was on the other side of the pool.

"What is that?" Her mother smiled at her.

"It's time to go back now, Clary."

"What? No! I don't want to leave you!" She was panicking now, not wanting to lose her mother a second time.

"It's okay, I'll see you again soon."

"Mom, don't go!"

"Go back, he's waiting."

"Who's waiting?"

"Don't shut him out, Clary. He's different. He understands." She could feel herself slipping away now and she desperately fought to stay, to be able to talk to her mother even just a moment longer. She was fighting in vain though, there was nothing she could do. She found her eyes slipping shut and when she opened them again she was no longer looking at her mother's shinning green eyes but at the bland white of a hospital ceiling. Groaning, she turned her head to the side and nearly had a heart attack when she saw Jace sitting in the chair beside her bed, gold eyes focused on her face. Recovering, she managed a weak smile.

"Hey, Jace." His face darkened with a scowl and for the first time since she'd met him, he looked pissed off.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" he all but exploded at her.

"I… Wasn't?" She cringed, knowing he wouldn't like her reply.

"Damn right you weren't! You could have died, Clary! Jesus Christ why'd you even cut yourself in the first place?" The last part was barely a whisper and she found she couldn't meet his eyes anymore so she turned her head away from him.

"I just wanted to feel okay again." When she chanced a glance his way, she saw that his expression had softened and he no longer looked angry.

"But Clary, you weren't okay. You almost died."

"I know and I'm sorry, it's just that I thought you would hate me or be disgusted or something if you knew and then I wanted to forget that and—" she cut herself off. "I'm sorry." No sooner had she finished, a warm pair of arms wrapped around her.

"It's okay. You're okay now. That's all that matters." She could feel his hot breath against her neck, where his chin was resting. She shivered and then turned in his arms so she was facing him.

"Thank you. You know, for helping me."

"Anything for the girl I—" He cut himself off and his sentence hung in the air between them.

_Anything for the girl I love. _She knew what he was going to say and only weeks before it would have sent her running faster than she'd ever dreamed she could. Now, it only made her smile.

"Jace?" She felt him tense, probably thinking she was going to reject him then.

"Yeah?" he said, his voice breathy.

"I think I love you too." He released an audible breath, relieved and they both grinned.

" Yeah, I think I love you, Clary." With that he leaned down and captured her lips with his.

It was then that Clary finally _saw _the end of the road to nowhere, no just caught a glimpse, and when she did she knew she was only a few steps away from it.


	6. Chapter 5

**J.L**

Jace was happy. Not the kind of happy most people were everyday because they liked their life but the kind of happy that made it impossible for you to stop smiling no matter what. Why was he happy, you might ask? Well, it's simple really. His wonderful _girlfriend _Clary was being released from the hospital today which meant they could go on their first real date since they'd gotten together.

"Clary, you ready to go?" he said, knocking on the bathroom door. He could feel unease settle in because it had been a bathroom he'd found her in before but it soon disappeared when there came a muffled reply and the door swung open. He grinned down at the little red-head in front of him and held his hand out to her. She took it with a smile of her own.

The restaurant wasn't as crowded as he'd expected it to be, only a few tables here and there seating people. He must have looked surprised because Clary raised her eyebrows at him in question. He shrugged in response and smiled as he led her to his usual table by the window. Barely a minute after they'd sat down a waitress, Kaelie, came over to offer them menus and drinks. When she left, Clary decided to break the comfortable silence between them.

"I'm glad I gave you a chance, Jace," she said to him as she folded her menu and set it to the side.

"I'm glad you did too," he replied and then scolded himself for being so cheesy because Jace Wayland was not _cheesy_. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Oh, right. He was in love.

Clary looked like she was about to say something when Kaelie came back asking for their order. After they'd given her them, she scurried off back to the kitchen and silence settled between the couple again. This time it was Jace who decided to break it.

"Hey Clary what do you want to do when you get out of high school?" Clary looked up at him thoughtfully from where she'd been playing with her straw.

"I want to be a professional artist. Why?"

"Just wondering." He shrugged. "You know, curiosity." She nodded and then seemed to realize she'd missed something.

"What do you want to do?" And Jace didn't know what to say because he'd honestly never thought about it before.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe something with kids?" She seemed taken aback by this.

"Really? I didn't know you liked them so much." He shrugged again.

"I have a little brother, Max and he's pretty fun to hang with I guess. I think I want to help kids with issues and stuff because I know what it's like and I would've liked for someone to help me." She smiled at him when he finished and he smiled back, happy that he was starting to untangle the mess that was his life.

"I think you'd be great with them," Clary said just as Kaelie returned a third time, this time with their food. They both thanked her before carrying on their conversation, picking at their meals as they did. Sitting there with her, laughing and smiling and just _living _felt right to Jace and it was obvious that it did to Clary too.

"Are you happy, Clary?" She stopped laughing about the last thing he'd said and looked at him, realizing the conversation had just taken a turn to serious.

"What do you mean?" Jace looked out the window, watching a little boy run across the street after his mother who only smiled at him as she held her hand out for him to take. Jace smiled too and then turned back to Clary when he realized she was waiting for him to answer.

"I mean, are you happy Clary?" She smiled softly a him.

"I'm happy, Jace. I have you." He grinned.

"Good answer." She shrugged but grinned back at him.

"I know." The bill came then and Jace threw a fifty at it, knowing it was almost twice as much as the bill asked for. He slid it across the table to Kaelie as he stood up and took Clary's hand.

"Keep the change."

* * *

**C.F**

Clary smoothed down the front of her dress as she stood in front of the mirror. She brushed aside a stray hair and then turned around to make sure the back of her hair looked good. Satisfied, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She walked to the park by her house, thankful she hadn't worn her high heels because her feet would've been hurting like hell if she had.

She met him at the ice cream stand they'd first come to all those months ago and smiled when she saw that he was actually wearing a suit. She had to admit, her boyfriend was hot. When he saw her, he smiled too and then held out a simple corsage for her to slip her wrist into. She did and found that it matched her dress perfectly, both being white with the slightest bit of green. She thanked him and then leaned up to kiss him. Soon after, he offered her his hand and she took it, letting him lead her to his car.

The music from the dance could be heard from a long ways away which meant that when they pulled up to the school gym and got out, they could hardly hear each other over it. Laughing, they walked in and parted ways not soon after, both having spotted their friends.

"Clary! Wow, you look great!" Isabelle said, handing her a suspicious looking drink. They'd become friends when she'd started seeing Clary's other best friend, Simon who'd been crushing on the raven-haired girl since third grade. It may have helped that Isabelle was Clary's boyfriend's sister but well, whatever.

"Thanks, Iz. You too," Clary said, setting the drink down on a nearby table without her friend noticing. Isabelle grinned.

"Look what Simon gave me!" she squealed, holding her wrist up for Clary to see the corsage made up mostly of red roses. She smiled back and held up her own. "Oh, I know. I've seen it, Jace asked me if I thought you'd like it the other day."

"He did? Wow, didn't think he'd go to all that trouble just for some high school dance," Clary replied but in all honesty she was happy that she mattered so much.

"_Some high school dance?!_ Clary, this is _prom_! Not just somehigh school dance!"

"And your point is…?" Isabelle rolled her eyes at her and then left her, running off to find her brother and his boyfriend. Clary was about to tell her that she'd seen them outside and that she really shouldn't— ahem— _interrupt _them but decided against it, thinking Isabelle might as well figure it out herself. She almost gasped in surprise when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her had she not recognized the scent of his cologne.

"Hey, beautiful," Jace said, resting his chin on top of her head and swaying them back and forth to the music. Clary smiled.

"Hey."

"Care to dance?" he said, turning her around to face him and holding out his hand. She took with a grin to match his and a spark in her eyes.

"I would love to." And then they were dancing and everything was perfect because they were right where they needed to be and both of their pasts didn't really matter at all anymore.

Clary had finally found an exit on the road to nowhere and it happened to be Jace.

* * *

**J.L**

Jace was smiling as he twirled Clary around before pulling her back into his arms, swaying back and forth to the slow music that came through the speakers. It seemed that was all they could do lately, smile. It was infectious, this happiness they had and he prayed to God that it didn't end anytime soon because this was the best he'd felt in as long as he could remember.

"Jace, you know I love you, right?" He beamed down at her.

"I love you too, Clary." She smiled back at him just as the song ended and they went to sit at the table Isabelle had staked out for the group of them.

"Izzy, that's not the dress you were wearing earlier," Clary said, looking confused as they sat down across from Jace's sister and her boyfriend. Izzy made a face.

"Some idiot spilled purple crap on my other dress so I had to go change," she replied, glaring at said idiot who happened to be seated only a few tables away. Jace snorted and Clary giggled while Simon just sat there looking mortified.

"Where'd you find another dress?"

"I brought one just in case I didn't like yours, Clary." At this, Clary glared at her and Jace only snorted again. Realizing what she'd said, his sister rushed to cover up her mistake. "I mean, I love yours though so it's okay. Right?" Clary just rolled her eyes and rested her head on the table.

"Nice save, Iz," Jace said, voice dripping with sarcasm. She glared at him but didn't bother to say anything. Instead, she turned to the scrawny little rat boy beside her.

"Let's go dance, Simon." Jace watched in amusement as she all but dragged the poor, unexpecting boy onto the dance floor. Clary lifted her head off the table once they'd left and leaned back in her seat, Jace's eyes coming to a rest on her when she did. He saw her run her fingers over the scars on her arms subconsciously for a moment before he reached out and placed his hand on top of hers, stopping them. She looked at him and a sad smile spread across her face.

"Sorry," she said. He frowned and locked his fingers with hers.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," he replied softly. She looked away, resulting in a sigh from Jace. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up, heading for the door. "Come on, let's go." She seemed mildly shocked for a second, but just shook her head and followed him out the door with a smile plastered on her face.

For the first time in both their lives, things seemed perfect and it didn't look like it was only temporary.

* * *

_**I'm pretty sure I'll only be doing one more chapter for this story but I'm also pretty sure I'll be doing a sequel. If I do, I'll let you know what it will be called if you're too lazy to go to my profile and find it. It'll only be my third story so it's not like you'll have to look through pages and pages of stories to find it.**_

_**But anyways, just wanted to let you know that. Also, there's a poll up on my profile where you can vote for which mortal instruments couple you want me to write about next. Please vote, I don't know what you want me to write about if no one does.**_

_**Thanks**_


	7. Epilogue

"Jace, where are we going?" Clary asked from the passenger seat of their BMW. They'd been driving for what must have been more than an hour and still she had no idea where exactly they were driving _to_. Jace grinned at her, his eyes flitting around wildly in anticipation as he drove. Or maybe it was nerves, she couldn't be sure though it didn't make sense for him to be nervous around her. They'd been together for what felt like forever and he hadn't even seemed nervous the day they'd met.

"Just wait and see. No worries, I'm sure you'll love it." Clary frowned but didn't question him any further, instead focusing on the road ahead of them in an attempt to find out herself where they were going. She didn't recognize the road they were on, however, and she suspected Jace had taken a different route to get wherever they were going to make sure of that. Groaning, she slumped down into her seat which only resulted in an even bigger grin from the boy beside her. This just pissed her off even more and she threw an awful scowl in his direction. Which really did her no good at all as he simply burst out laughing after that. Rolling her eyes, she resorted to just staring out the windows at the trees that sped by her. Needless to say, she was just having _so _much fun on their little, out of the blue trip to god knows where. Oh yes, loads of fun.

When the car finally jerked to a halt, she sprung up and undid her seatbelt in one fluid motion, opening the door and stepping out as she did. Jace followed, albeit more calmly, all the while laughing at her as he did. She pouted and then turned to examine the place he'd brought her to, gasping as she did. They were at the beach, where'd they spent the two summers they had left in high school after they'd met. Her eyes lit up in excitement as she realized exactly where they were and that he hadn't dragged her out to the middle of nowhere just because he was bored. Which he might have actually, Jace had pulled that stunt quite a few times since they'd started going out which had resulted in a rather angry red handprint on his cheek for the rest of the day. Squealing, she lunged for Jace and wrapped her arms around him tighter than he'd been expecting, judging by the grunt he gave accompanied by a smile and a breathy 'you're welcome'. When he managed to escape from her – ahem— _hug, _he smiled at her and was pleased to receive a very bright smile in return. Joining hands, they both raced towards the beach, feeling like teenagers again instead of the college students they now were.

After over two hours of splashing around in the water, in their good clothes I might add, they found themselves sitting on the rocks by the shore simply enjoying the view of the ocean they had. The beach was empty, which had shocked them both upon arriving as the beach was _never _empty or anywhere close to it. They hadn't been ones to complain though, more room for them after all. Clary glanced at Jace now, not having failed to notice how nervous and yet unusually excited he'd been the entire afternoon.

"Jace, did something happen?" He jerked when she spoke, clearly startled and rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans. What good it did him, she couldn't possibly know as his jeans were soaked and therefore not the best thing to dry his hands on.

"No, why?" Clary raised her eyebrows at him in that 'you've got to be kidding me' way she had and Jace couldn't help but look away. This was going to be harder than he'd thought it'd be after all.

"You've been acting weird all day. Just tell me what's up." She wanted to know what's up? Fine. Might as well do it now considering he had no idea what he was actually waiting for. Taking a deep breath to calm his raging nerves— a breath that didn't actually do anything at all except leave him gasping and choking on the air he'd taken in— he moved to stand in front of her, grabbing her legs as he did and looking her in the eye.

"Clary Fray—" He paused, realizing he'd forgotten something. Reaching into his pocket he knelt down, refusing to let his knees rest on the rocky surface he was standing on. In other words, he wasn't really kneeling. "Will you marry me?" He looked her in the eyes and realized she'd pretty much completely frozen with shock. Well, at least she hadn't said no yet. She shook herself, attempting to recover and then took the ring he held out to her and slipped it onto the finger who's vein led straight to her heart with a smile on her face.

"Yes," she said, throwing her arms around him as she did and burying her face in his shoulder to hide her tears of joy. He would've spun her around had the ground they'd been standing on not been extremely slippery and wet and would it not have resulted in them falling into the ocean to meet a rocky death. Yeah, maybe some other time.

The whole way back to their apartment, Clary admired the ring she'd been given with a big grin on her face. Jace was grinning too, of course, he just happened not to have anything to admire except the girl beside him. Which might result in them dying, so instead he chose to _admire _the road. Much less dangerous.

And when Clary did finally look up at the road, she knew where it led and it wasn't nowhere. She'd been on the road to nowhere for such a long time in her life and she hadn't been able to see the end of it then. Now, she could see it and it was far, far behind her.

The road to nowhere isn't endless after all.

* * *

_The sequel is going to be called The Road To Somewhere. I'll have it up by tomorrow. Anyway, please vote for the mortal instruments couple you want me to write about next on the poll on my page._

_Thanks for reading this story, guys. It means a lot._


End file.
